ON STAGE

9-year-olds are into videos, skateboarding – and opera?

Self-taught prodigy stuns Holland's Got Talent

Nine-year-olds learn to play video games with nary a glance at the instructions and learn skateboard through bumps and falls, right?

And they teach themselves opera and stun television audiences when they want something to do to while their siblings play violin?

That's actually the story of Amira Willighagen, who recently amazed the judges and audience for the "Holland's Got Talent" television program.

A video of the prodigy's performance has gone viral, with millions of views.

According to the London Daily Mail, American talent entrepreneur Simon Cowell took to the Web when he saw the performance by Willighagen, tweeting, "I have just been sent this from Holland's Got Talent … what a total star!!"

Show judges Dan Karaty, Chantal Janzen and Gordon Heuckeroth were dazzled when the Dutch youngster hit her first note of Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro." It's from the opera "Gianni Schicchi."

Willighagen was awarded a golden ticket, advancing to the next round of the show's competition.

"Are you really 9 years old? This is incredible," Janzen told her, the Daily Mail reported.

The report said the youngster explained she taught herself opera by watching Internet videos.

"My brother Vincent plays violin, and I also wanted to do something. So I thought, 'I'm going to sing' … and then I heard opera songs, which I found very beautiful, and that's when I started singing."